An hour (more or less) of Mad Professor aka Neil Fraser to dub up your Sunday.
Fourteen collaborations with or dubs for other artists, spanning an incredible four decades and providing a perfect excuse to sit down and chill out. Just like this ring-tailed lemur, that seemed largely indifferent to the agog Clan K standing just a couple of feet away at Wild Place in Bristol a couple of weekends ago.
Sticking with Bristol, the earliest song in this selection is by Restriction from 1983. The band featured Rob Smith (of Smith & Mighty and RSD fame) and came to my attention via the excellent compilations issued by Bristol Archive Records.
Another Bristol act who really need no introduction is Massive Attack and, to be honest, I could easily have stuck with a Mad Professor selection just focusing on the many top-notch dubs he's produced for them since the 1990s. I have plumped for a Protection-era version but one which didn't appear on the companion album, instead popping up on a compilation to raise money for the charity Shelter. As an added bonus, it's a dub of Better Things, featuring Tracey Thorn.
Sticking with the more obscure is Mad Professor's dubby vocal mix of Chapterhouse's 1991 song Mesmerise. I think it was one of several remixes of early 1990s indie acts commissioned exclusively for the 1999 film Splendor. I bought the soundtrack CD, I've never seen the film.
Slick Sixty make their second appearance this week (a Justin Robertson remix appeared in Friday's selection), not bad for an act who only released three singles, two promos and one album in their lifetime.
Rather more well known but possibly an unexpected choice are Depeche Mode. Slowblow was a B-side to 1997 single It's No Good but Mad Professor's dub remained unreleased until the Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 in 2004 and even then only as a limited 'rare tracks' download companion available on their official website.
The selection draws to a close with Mad Professor's inspired partnership with Xan Tyler on one of my favourite albums of 2022, Clarion Call. This is a dub of their version of Townes Van Zandt's 1969 song Be Here To Love Me and available as a bonus track on the digital edition of Clarion Call. Recommended.
1) Love Is Stronger Than Pride (Mad Professor Mix): Sade (1992)
2) Life's A Beach (Mad Professor Dub): Django Django (2022)
3) Restriction (Single Version By Restriction & Mad Professor): Restriction (1983)
4) Jamaica (Mad Professor Dub): Van She (2012)
5) Analógica Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Frente Cumbiero (2010)
6) Dubbing Home: Bob Andy & Mad Professor (1989)
7) Guilt-Edged (Single Version By Tony McDermott & Mad Professor): Champion Doug Veitch & The Igbira Nation (1984)
8) Margo's B&B (Mad Professor's B&B): Slick Sixty (1998)
9) Slowblow (Mad Professor Mix): Depeche Mode (1997)
10) Marijuana Dub: Mad Professor & Prince Fatty ft. Earl Sixteen (2015)
11) Suck Me Up Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn (1995)
12) Mesmerise (The Mesmerising Vocal Mix By Mad Professor): Chapterhouse (1998)
13) Free South Africa (Dub) (Remix By Lindel Lewis & Mad Professor): Benjamin Zephaniah (1983)
14) Be Here To Dub Me (Cover of 'Be Here To Love Me' by Townes Van Zandt): Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)
1984: Not The Heart EP: 7
1989: Bob Andy's Dub Book: As Revealed To Mad Professor: 6
1989: Rasta (bonus tracks) (Switzerland CD): 13
1992: Feel No Pain EP: 1
1997: Foundations: Coming Up From The Streets: 11
1998: The Wrestler EP: 8
1999: Splendor OST: 12
2004: Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 (Rare Tracks): 9
2010: Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor: 5
2011: The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983: 3
2013: Modular Presents Modyssey: 4
2015: Mad Professor Meets Prince Fatty In The Clone Theory: 10
2021: Clarion Call (bonus tracks): 14
2022: Django Django Meets Mad Professor: A Dub Rework: 2
